Sqoop, a startup based in Seattle that makes it easier for journalists to mine public records, has published a new report which suggests that Samsung and its subsidiaries were awarded the highest number of patents in the United States last year. The report follows one sent out by the IFI Claims Patent Services which suggested that it was IBM and not Samsung that received the most patents last year. This also meant that IBM remained on top of that list for the 24th year in a row.
Sqoop reports that Samsung was awarded 8,551 patents in the United States last year as opposed to IBM’s 8,062. Samsung was also found to have more pending applications, 10,695 against IBM’s 8,800 patent applications. The startup’s founder and CEO Bill Hankes mentioned in the report that their figures differ from IFI’s report because they also seek out patents awarded to subsidiaries and calculate them under one umbrella.
“A notable and symbolic result is that while longtime patent leader IBM applies for patents as a single company, Samsung applies under a large number of subsidiaries,” Hankes mentioned in the report, adding that “When these subsidiaries are combined however, Samsung has displaced IBM with the top ranking for the last two years running.”
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